These are old vets overlooked from the past. But medal inflation is common during unpopular wars everywhere. They were handing them out to guys who merely picked up fallen enemy flags during the Civil War.

My oldest son plays rec-basketball with this hero. Dakota Meyer, he saved 30-40 lives and I met him visiting my son. He is making a fortune on TV and endorsements, but most of all speeches. I think it was 10-15k + expenses. He has a deal with Toyota, gets free SUV's, trucks. He deserves it all. Columbia,Ky

Dakota Meyer hadn’t thought about joining the Marine Corps until he enlisted on a dare, but he’s become one of the most distinguished Marines of the past decade, saving 36 lives in Afghanistan on what he has called “the worst day of my life.”For his heroic acts that day, Meyer, 23, on Thursday became the first living Marine in nearly four decades to receive the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military award. On Sept. 8, 2009, during the Battle of Ganjgal in eastern Afghanistan, the then-corporal repeatedly braved enemy fire to rescue 13 U.S. Marines and soldiers and 23 Afghan soldiers.Continue Reading[h=4]Text Size[/h]

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[h=3]POLITICO 44[/h]

In bestowing the medal, President Barack Obama praised Meyer’s “extraordinary actions” and courage. Meyer is the third living recipient and first Marine to receive the medal for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.“Because of your humble example, our kids … [will] know that no matter who you are or where you come from, you can do great things as a citizen and as a member of the American family,” Obama told members of Meyer’s unit, family and friends in the East Room of the White House.But Meyer, who grew up in small towns in rural Kentucky and dreamed of playing football after high school, is exceptionally modest, military officials say.“To me, it doesn’t seem like it was that great, but everyone else is inspired by this one story,” Meyer told POLITICO. “It’s just one of millions of stories out there.”On Wednesday, Meyer joined Obama for a beer on the patio outside the Oval Office, a moment captured in a White House photo posted on Flickr. When the president’s staff called Meyer during the weekend in preparation for the ceremony, Meyer asked the aide whether he could have a beer with the president, “which we were able execute yesterday,” Obama said.The president described Meyer as “one of the most down-to-earth guys that you will ever meet. … Dakota is the kind of guy who gets the job done.”Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marines, said in a statement that Meyer, now a sergeant, “embodies all that is good about our nation’s Corps of Marines. He is a living example of the brave young men and women whose service, fidelity and sacrifice make us so proud.”As fellow U.S. troops faced heavy fire from dozens of Taliban insurgents, Meyer dodged bullets to rescue those he was fighting, making five trips by gun truck into harm’s way. Even after suffering a shrapnel wound to his arm, he continued to help his fellow fighters, shooting at insurgents and assisting those he encountered on the battlefield. He collected the bodies of three Marines and one Navy medic and rescued three dozen Americans and Afghans.“There’s not a day — not a second — that goes by [when] I don’t think about what happened that day,” Meyer told the American Forces Press Service this year. “I didn’t just lose four [colleagues] that day; I lost four brothers.”He has since stopped talking to reporters about that day, though he remains willing to discuss his overall experience in the Marines and the Medal of Honor. His past comments about the incident have focused not on his rescue of more than 30 people but on his guilt and pain over his inability to save the lives of the four men whose bodies he collected.“I went in there to get those guys out alive, and I failed. So I think it’s more fitting to call me a failure than a hero,” Meyer told The Lexington Herald-Leader this month. He said he expected to die that day.“I was just waiting to get killed in there,” he told the paper. “I never thought I was going to make it out alive.”Obama spoke of Meyer’s lingering anguish, and tried to provide comfort.

Not counting George HW Bush who is the last one that deserved to hand out medals to these heroes? Gerald Ford and those that came before him. Everyone that came after Ford is a poser. Unless we're talking about some partisan bullshit here

He wrote 1 book, working on another, He has met a shit-pile of celebrities and done the celebrity Toyota race. Got lessons to race etc. He wants to run for Congress and clean up some shit. He has Alpaca's which are better than cats. Big Ky farm, and a construction company. He deserves it all, no chimney manor but a huge,nice house.

My oldest son plays rec-basketball with this hero. Dakota Meyer, he saved 30-40 lives and I met him visiting my son. He is making a fortune on TV and endorsements, but most of all speeches. I think it was 10-15k + expenses. He has a deal with Toyota, gets free SUV's, trucks. He deserves it all. Columbia,Ky

Dakota Meyer hadn’t thought about joining the Marine Corps until he enlisted on a dare, but he’s become one of the most distinguished Marines of the past decade, saving 36 lives in Afghanistan on what he has called “the worst day of my life.”For his heroic acts that day, Meyer, 23, on Thursday became the first living Marine in nearly four decades to receive the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military award. On Sept. 8, 2009, during the Battle of Ganjgal in eastern Afghanistan, the then-corporal repeatedly braved enemy fire to rescue 13 U.S. Marines and soldiers and 23 Afghan soldiers.Continue Reading[h=4]Text Size[/h]

-

+

reset

Listen

[h=3]POLITICO 44[/h]

In bestowing the medal, President Barack Obama praised Meyer’s “extraordinary actions” and courage. Meyer is the third living recipient and first Marine to receive the medal for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.“Because of your humble example, our kids … [will] know that no matter who you are or where you come from, you can do great things as a citizen and as a member of the American family,” Obama told members of Meyer’s unit, family and friends in the East Room of the White House.But Meyer, who grew up in small towns in rural Kentucky and dreamed of playing football after high school, is exceptionally modest, military officials say.“To me, it doesn’t seem like it was that great, but everyone else is inspired by this one story,” Meyer told POLITICO. “It’s just one of millions of stories out there.”On Wednesday, Meyer joined Obama for a beer on the patio outside the Oval Office, a moment captured in a White House photo posted on Flickr. When the president’s staff called Meyer during the weekend in preparation for the ceremony, Meyer asked the aide whether he could have a beer with the president, “which we were able execute yesterday,” Obama said.The president described Meyer as “one of the most down-to-earth guys that you will ever meet. … Dakota is the kind of guy who gets the job done.”Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marines, said in a statement that Meyer, now a sergeant, “embodies all that is good about our nation’s Corps of Marines. He is a living example of the brave young men and women whose service, fidelity and sacrifice make us so proud.”As fellow U.S. troops faced heavy fire from dozens of Taliban insurgents, Meyer dodged bullets to rescue those he was fighting, making five trips by gun truck into harm’s way. Even after suffering a shrapnel wound to his arm, he continued to help his fellow fighters, shooting at insurgents and assisting those he encountered on the battlefield. He collected the bodies of three Marines and one Navy medic and rescued three dozen Americans and Afghans.“There’s not a day — not a second — that goes by [when] I don’t think about what happened that day,” Meyer told the American Forces Press Service this year. “I didn’t just lose four [colleagues] that day; I lost four brothers.”He has since stopped talking to reporters about that day, though he remains willing to discuss his overall experience in the Marines and the Medal of Honor. His past comments about the incident have focused not on his rescue of more than 30 people but on his guilt and pain over his inability to save the lives of the four men whose bodies he collected.“I went in there to get those guys out alive, and I failed. So I think it’s more fitting to call me a failure than a hero,” Meyer told The Lexington Herald-Leader this month. He said he expected to die that day.“I was just waiting to get killed in there,” he told the paper. “I never thought I was going to make it out alive.”Obama spoke of Meyer’s lingering anguish, and tried to provide comfort.